Chapter 1

Nico groaned as he stepped through the entrance of the school. It was by far the most crowded school he'd ever been to. He didn't like school or crowded places so this was just double the annoyance.

"Did Chiron really need three of us to do this?" He said, dropping his bag on the ground. Seeing as the last school he'd gone to the principal had tried to kill him, Nico hadn't been too eager when he'd gotten the news that he was going back.

"Well he wanted to make sure there was enough protection for the demigod, I guess," Percy shrugged. "Come on, it's not so bad."

"If Percy can avoid blowing up the school, it should be fine," Annabeth chimed in.

"Okay, that was one time," Percy said defensively, jokingly bumping into her.

"Keep in mind this is how we found you an–" Percy hesitated and Annabeth nudged him. Nico rolled his eyes. They always avoided mentioning Bianca around him, which rather pissed him off. He wasn't the little kid he'd been back then, he could handle talking about his dead sister. It's not like he was going to start crying or anything like that.

"Yeah, whatever," he said, slinging his bag over his back and heading towards his first class.

Barely looking where he was going, Nico hit into something big and… kind of sweaty.

"Watch where you're going, fag," a boy three times his size said. The guy reeked, as if he hadn't showered in, like, a lifetime. With him was another guy, much smaller. He wore a hat over his longish blond hair and had his arm around a girl's waist.

"Come on, Dean, don't be an ass," the girl said, trying to shrug off the guy at her waist.

The boy, Dean, as if to purely piss the girl off, proceeded to hit into Nico even harder, slamming him against the lockers to his right.

"Hey!" He heard Percy yell as he made his way towards them. "Get lost," he said to the towering boy. The boy stared Percy down for what seemed like an eternity and Nico honestly feared he'd get hit and got ready to step in but the boy just grinned and pushed passed him, followed by his friends. The girl looked back at him with an apologetic look.

Percy turned towards Nico as passersby observed the scene.

"You all right?"

"I'm fine," Nico said.

"You sure?"

"I don't need you to stick up for me," Nico said bitterly.

"Well you weren't really doing a good job of sticking up for yourself," Percy said defensively. "I was just trying to help."

"Yeah well..." Nico didn't finish his sentence, just walked away from his friends and headed towards his class. He just wanted this whole quest to be over.

Just over a week ago Grover had sent a message to Chiron suspecting that there might be a few demigods at this school. They were supposed to meet up with him during lunch break to see who the potential demigods were, but Nico couldn't care less. He didn't even really understand why he'd been chosen to help out with this. He rarely associated with Camp Half Blood.

He also didn't understand who had put Math as his first class. It was one of the highest forms of cruelty, really.

The class was empty when he got there except for the teacher at his desk. The old frail-looking man looked up from a dictionary-sized book and looked at Nico with thick glasses.

"Ah, you must be Nicholas di Angelo," the teacher said.

"Just Nico, actually," he said.

"My apologies." The teacher put his book down and Nico could read the title Perseus. He laughed at the irony.

"You can sit anywhere you like," the old man said.

Nico surveyed the class seating arrangements. All the desks were paired up in two, meaning he was probably going to have to actually sit next to someone. He opted for the farthest desk to the right at the back of the class. He took the seat closest to the window and sat down, setting his bag next to him and sighed. Class hadn't even started yet and he was already counting the minutes until it was over. One hour and ten minutes.

At one hour and five minutes, students began piling in the class, sitting with one another and chatting about weekend plans and the upcoming dance and god knows what else. A few people looked his way but other than that no one paid him any attention.

The bell rang and no one had sat down next to him and he dared wonder for a second if the seat was actually vacant. He couldn't be that lucky.

Ten minutes into the class Nico was already dozing off when the door opened and a girl walked in. Nico immediately recognized her as the girl he'd seen that morning with the big guy, Rick.

"I'm so sorry for being late," she said. "My dad's car wouldn't start." Nico cocked an eyebrow. She was obviously lying, since he'd seen her not twenty minutes ago.

"Just take a seat." The teacher said, not seeming amused. He seemed used to this. The girl began walking towards the back of the class and Nico cursed under his breath. Of course the seat would be hers. She paused for a second when she noticed him sitting there. She had black hair that reached her shoulder blades and piercing brown eyes. She was dressed mostly in black, which might have made her seem aggressive if it wasn't for the adorable chubby cheeks and hot pink lips.

"You're in my seat," she said in a small voice.

"I'm sorry." Nico stammered. "I didn't know–" The girl grinned and sat down next to him.

"I'm kidding, calm down." She waited until the teacher turned his attention back to the board before turning to him.

"Do I smell right now?" she asked, leaning towards him. Nico shook his head. What?

"Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure no one could smell it."

Nico wondered what 'it' was. She didn't give him time to come up with a possible answer.

"You must be the new kid everyone's been talking about," the girl said.

"People have been talking about me?" Nico raised his eyebrows. The only time people ever talked about him was to make fun of him. This couldn't be good.

"The one dating the quote, insanely hot blonde, unquote."

Nico rolled his eyes. "No, that's Percy," he said, leaning his cheek on his fist.

"Oh, the cute one that was with you earlier?" She said, winking at Nico. He blushed, trying to formulate words, which only made her laugh. "I'm kidding, geez. He seems like a complete douche, to be honest."

"He isn't," Nico said defensively.

"... And if everyone could pay attention, that'd be great," the teacher said, eyeing the two teens in the back.

"For his age, he has wicked hearing," the girl mumbled under her breath. "I'm Lydia by the way."

"Nico," he told her.

"What's your schedule?" She asked before grabbing his schedule. "We have cooking together for last class." She said. Both of them nearly jumped out of their skin when the teacher slapped a worksheet on their desks. They both looked at each other for a second before grabbing their respective pages and working on them.

Nico sighed. How on earth was he supposed to do this? He hadn't actually been in school in years and it didn't help that the numbers were just everywhere and doing things numbers shouldn't be. His dyslexia hadn't gotten any better over the years.

He just put down random answers, figuring that he wasn't going to be here for long anyways so what did it really matter if he passed or not.

Percy was thankful that most of his classes were with Annabeth. Since they'd started dating, they'd barely been apart for more than a day or so. That and it was most likely the only way he wouldn't get kicked out. Even if they weren't going to be here long he felt some deep need to prove his past self wrong. That he could succeed in school despite the ADHD and despite the demigod life.

"Are you even paying attention?" Annabeth whispered from behind him.

"Yeah X equals 42 right?" he whispered back.

"We're in History, you Idiot."

He grinned. Maybe it was a bit wrong, but he thought she looked so adorable when angry.

He waited for her when the bell rang, taking her books like the gentleman he was and held her hand. They walked through the main exits and made their way towards the tables outside.

"So where did Grover say he'd meet us?" she asked, interlacing her fingers with his.

"At one of the tables outside," he told her. "I don't know where Nico is, though."

"He'll find us." Annabeth said, nodding towards the table Grover was sitting on. His eyes shifted everywhere as he subconsciously chewed off bits of his soda can.

It felt weird seeing him with fake feet again.

"Percy!" Grover said reassuringly, "Annabeth!" He ran towards them making awkward sheep sounds as he hugged them, causing a few people to glance their way.

"Hey, man!" Percy said, high fiving his friend.

"I was getting worried Chiron wouldn't send help." He cringed. "She's a bit... Unapproachable."

"The demigod?" Annabeth asked.

"She's… intimidating." He said. Percy chuckled. How could anyone who was friends with Thalia or faced Kronos, and monsters on a near-daily basis, be intimidated by a teenage girl? Then again this was Grover.

"Who is she?" Annabeth asked. Grover looked around for a few seconds, trying to spot her.

"That would be her," he said, pointing near the entrance where Nico also just happened to be.

"She doesn't look that intimidating," Annabeth mumbled. Percy watched as the girl began talking to Nico. She was wearing black jeans and a green army jacket.

"Unapproachable number one is approaching unapproachable number two," Percy said, laughing a little too much at his own joke, resulting in a weird look from his friends.

Nico leaned against the wall. He debated whether he should stay or just ditch the rest of the day. It's not like the others actually needed him, so why should he stay? He could see them talking to Grover on the other side of the schoolyard near the picnic tables, but frankly didn't feel like joining them. Part of him wanted them to notice. Wanted them to look over and wave, yell Hey buddy, come on over. Join us.

He laughed at how pathetic that sounded. Truth is, even if they would do that, even if they would notice anything, he wouldn't join them. Wouldn't let them in.

"Hey Mr. Antisocial," Lydia said, leaning on the wall next to him. He rolled his eyes, turning towards her, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Are you always this moody?" she laughed. Nico just glared at her.

"You look like you could use a little boost." She grinned. It was a mischievous grin.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked. "A boost?"

"A green boost." She said. His eyes slightly. Was she offering him drugs or was he just stupid right now? He glanced back towards Percy and the others who were now looking in his direction. He knew if he had lunch with them, they'd probably hover and annoy him. Like some dumb kid they needed to protect.

"Yeah, sure." He said. "Whatever. Anything to get out of Social Sciences."

"Good choice." She said, beginning to walk towards the edge of the school yard. "Come on." She said. He glanced back towards his friends, meeting Percy's glance for half a second but choosing to follow Lydia. They didn't need him.

They walked through the school yard and a few blocks until they reached a building under construction. It looked like someone had decided to build an apartment building but had given up halfway and left everything lying around.

"Should we really be here?" Nico asked, feeling a little nervous.

"Why?" Lydia grinned. "You scared?"

"Of course not." Nico said defensively. After being in the Labyrinth and the underworld and insert-every-other-creepy-places-he'd-been-here, some abandoned building didn't scare him. He just didn't want either of them getting in trouble.

"Relax. This place is abandoned. No one ever comes here." Lydia bit her lip and tossed something at him. He caught it and examined the bag. The bottom was full of green dried-looking… Stuff. It kinda looked like leaves if you squinted. Not really.

"Never seen pot before?" Lydia asked, taking the bag from his hands and opening it. She brought it to her face and inhaled.

The smell quickly reached Nico's nose, making him scrunch his face as if he'd just smelled something bad, which he had. It smelled like skunk with a hint of either mint or lemon. He wasn't even sure which.

"You get used to the smell." Lydia said, taking a few of the green buds out. He'd never done drugs or really wanted to but he couldn't help but watch as she put the marijuana into a small round grinder and twisted the contraption, resulting in finely chopped weed. He had to think quickly before she asked him to smoke. He could say he was allergic. Or make something up.

She rolled the weed into a firm joint and lit one end, putting the other to her lips. He watched her exhale the smoke from her lungs and it took him a moment to realize that she was passing it to him.

"Oh." He said, taking it. "Do I Just…"

"Like this." She said, arranging his hands so he was holding it correctly, leaving her hands on his for a second longer than she should have.

"He's not answering his phone." Percy said, ending the call and putting his phone down. He tapped his fingers nervously on his glass of cherry coke.

"Calm down." Annabeth laughed.

"I'm just worried." He said. "I mean he just left with her…"
"You're probably jealous that Nico's already made a new friend and you haven't," Annabeth teased, making him laugh.

Percy laughed and shook his head.

"That's exactly it," he said.

"Nico kind of had a point earlier, though," Annabeth said. "I don't really understand why Chiron recruited him for this quest. I mean I'm not complaining, but he rarely does anything for Camp."

"Oh, well," Percy scratched his head subconsciously. "I may have talked him into it," he admitted.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "The guy always seems so lonely half the time. I figured if he was forced on a quest he might… I don't know. Socialize or something."

Annabeth smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Your overprotectiveness is cute, seaweedbrain."

"So what are we doing next week?" he asked, trying to change their subject.

"Why would we be doing something next week?" Annabeth asked, trying to act casual. He knew she was teasing him. Testing him.

"Well I heard there was maybe this … Anniversary type thing?" he said, going along with it.

"Oh really?" She said.

"Yeah, one-year or something like that." He shrugged, popping a fry into his mouth. She leaned over the table, kissing him.

"So what are we going to do?" She said, stealing a couple of his fries.

"Well I've got a couple ideas." He said, grinning at her. He actually had no idea, but he'd figure something out. He always kind of did.

"And don't get me something too expensive either," she said. "Just because it's our one-year doesn't mean we have to go overboard with gifts."

Percy chuckled. Gifts? He hadn't even gotten anything yet. He was screwed. He was also broke.

"It'll be great." He said. He heard a bell sound and reached to check his phone when he realized it was Annabeth's. Maybe matching ringtones hadn't been the best idea. She unlocked her phone, replying to the message immediately.

"Who is it?" Percy asked. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of paranoid jealousy.

"Just my dad." She said. "He actually wants me home soon, so I should head back."
"I'll drive you." He offered.

"He's waiting for me at a bookstore just a few blocks down." She said, kissing his cheek. "I'll walk."

"Well let me walk you there, at least." He pleaded, taking her hand in his. "What kind of boyfriend lets his girl walk alone?"

"The kind who doesn't need to protect her 24/7?" She raised an eyebrow, teasing.

"Fair enough." He mumbled, kissing her before she left.

It's not that he believed she was lying, but he knew that she and Luke had been talking. Percy had felt uneasy since Luke had come back to Camp. Something didn't feel right. You know, besides the fact that he was supposed to have died.

He knew Annabeth would never cheat on him, but he also knew that she used to have a crush on Luke and they were quite close.